(711c) Analysis of Fluid Motion and Performance of Simulated Moving Bed with Different Design of Flow Distributor

Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) is an equipment for separation that uses the concept of continuous countercurrent chromatography. It is widely used in the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries because it is useful for separating materials with similar physical and chemical properties. Since the SMB consists of several beds connected to each other, it is important to ensure that fluid from the upper bed and feed are uniformly mixed because the location where the feed is injected periodically changes. There is a flow distributor, a structure for mixing and redistribution, which aids the feed to mix well with the fluid from the upper bed. It is important to determine the location and shape of the flow distributor as it affects the distribution of the feed flow through adsorbent layer. In this study, the effect of the design of the feed injection part in the SMB flow distributor on the degree of mixing of the fluid was studied. For analyzing the effect of two different design of flow distribution box, experiments and CFD simulation were conducted. The effect of degree of mixing on SMB performance was calculated through simulation of separation process for specific materials. The degree of mixing was reflected to modeling by modifying the main assumption applied on the previous study. In conclusion, it was possible to compare performance according to the flow distributor design.